We all want to grow as old as possible, but still feel young at the same time. Many things play a role in the aging process. How quickly or slowly you age is partly determined when you were born. But what exactly is this? We will explain it to you.
Grow old gracefully
Some people still seem fresh and young at the age of sixty, while others have one wrinkle after another. How quickly you grow old mainly has to do with your lifestyle. If you have a healthy lifestyle, you are often biologically younger. But there is more. There is something very small in our body that causes you to age faster or slower. We’re talking about telomeres. But what are they? Our body contains chromosomes and these in turn consist of DNA. At the end of your chromosomes there are protective caps and these are called telomeres.
Telomeres and aging
You can actually compare telomeres to shoelaces. A shoelace also has a protective cap at the end. This ensures that your laces do not fray. Your telomeres are at their longest when you are born. But when cells start dividing or renewing, they become shorter. That is certainly not a problem, because there is no genetic information in your telomeres. However, after a while the chromosomes can become damaged and cells can stop dividing. A cell no longer renews itself and dies. This is why we get those wrinkles. Fortunately, you can slow down this process by keeping your lifestyle as healthy as possible. Yet hereditary genes also play a major role. One person has longer telomeres than the other.
To delay
Stress can cause our biological age to increase more quickly, resulting in us turning gray more quickly. Just look around you. People who can handle a stressful situation well look younger on average. Fortunately, you can slow down your aging process by paying attention to how you live. For example, eat a bit healthier, exercise enough, avoid stress and avoid cigarettes. Sufficient sleep is also very important. Oh yes, and vitamin A, which not only stimulates the production of new skin cells, but also scavenges free radicals. Vitamin C also ensures the production of collagen. In these ways you can make your heart a lot healthier. Who knows, you might still look very young at the age of 70.
